Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance
By Keith Graves
7-1/4 x 9-1/4 in; 32 pp ; Full-color throughout, Ages 2 and up
Hardcover
Published in February, 1999
ISBN 0811821692
ISBN13 9780811821698
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$13.95
Reviews
Reviews From:
THE BULLETIN
PUBLISHERS
WEEKLY
of The Center for Children's Books
By Janice Harrington
When Frank (as in Frankenstein) goes dancing, his lively movements
make him fall to pieces, whereupon his previously appreciative
audience runs screaming from the theater. A humorous rhyming text
immediately engages readers: "Frank was a monster who wanted to
dance./ 'I know I could boogie if they gave me a chance.'/ So
he put on his hat and his shoes made in France/ and opened a jar
and put on his pants." In acrylic and colored pencil, Graves'
cartoon-like illustrations, stylistically reminiscent of Lane
Smith, extend the text with such details as Frank's mouse slippers
(complete with teeth), a bottle of "Le Smell," and a box of "Le
Shooz." Graves' palette (purple-grape, electric blue, and lime-green
with cherry-red highlights) makes the details pop without overwhelming
the eye. Young listeners will respond to the comedy, the catchy
rhythm, and especially the yuck factor induced by Frank's dancy
disintegration.
Newcomer Graves pays generic, goofy homage to Frankenstein
and to 1960s-era hot-rod art. He goes heavy on the
purple, electric blue and Astroturf green in his polished, nearly
3D compositions of acrylic and colored pencil. Even the hand-lettered
text, with its occasional incorporation of worms, bulging eyes,
etc., contributes to the expansion of the punchline, which will
likely hit primary graders' funny bones.
In rhyme and gloriously putrid color, we follow Frank the monster as he achieves his dream: "I know I could boogie if they gave me a chance," he muses, sitting at home in his pants, and proceeds to the theater. The audience loves him, but his head, which looks like an acid-green baseball with a zipper, comes undone, spilling out his purplely brain. The grossed-out audience departs as Frank loses an arm and an eyeball. Just the ticket for a collection that might be leaning too much toward the sweet and proper. This is a close cousin to Boogi Bones, written by Elizabeth Loredo and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes.
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